Loris Capirossi Signs with Pramac Ducati

Our resident road warrior has earned his stripes covering the rally circuit, from riding the Black Hills of Sturgis to cruising Main Street in Daytona Beach. Whether it's chopped, bobbed, or bored, metric to 'Merican, he rides 'em all.

The “Iron Man” of MotoGP, Loris Capirossi, has signed on to race for the Pramac Racing team in 2011 where he will once again compete on the Ducati he helped develop in 2007.

The Pramac Racing Team announced it has signed Italian rider Loris Capirossi to compete on the satellite Ducati in 2011. Capirossi will have an opportunity to once again ride the 800cc Desmosedici GP bike he helped develop back in 2007 while riding for the Ducati Corse squad. The “Iron Man” of MotoGP, Capirossi has competed in an astounding 313 races in several different GP classes. His resume includes 29 Grand Prix victories, 99 podiums and three World Championships.

“This return on a Ducati bike makes me feel like a child. I do not feel my 37 years! I have a great desire to start this new adventure, I’m enormously pleased about this new agreement that was reached with the Pramac Racing Team, this will allow me to ride and be part of an Italian Team,” Capirossi said.

Next year will be the Italian team’s 10th year of competing at the GP level. Capirossi’s signing follows the trend of Italian riders competing for Italian teams as Valentino Rossi signed on to race for the factory Ducati squad earlier this year.

“We are very pleased to have closed an agreement with one of the most experienced riders and one of the most titled of the current MotoGP World Championship. The deal between us was very simple because Pramac Racing Team, and him, always aim to try to fight for important results. We do not need to talk about Loris, we all know him, we know his value and we are sure that thanks to his quality, we’ll have fun next year on all the tracks, taking also some satisfaction,” said Pramac Racing’s Paolo Campinoti.

Capirossi has been competing for the Rizla Suzuki GP team for the past three seasons aboard the GSV-R. As a goodwill gesture for his dedicated service, Rizla Suzuki granted Capirossi permission to begin testing the Ducati in next month’s tests at Valencia.

“I thank Suzuki for the years we spent together and thanks also to the excellent relationship maintained with them, they had given me the possibility to race with my new team since Valencia’s test of next month,” Capirossi concluded.

Aleix Espargaro and Mika Kallio have been competing for the Pramac Racing team this season, with Espargaro 14th in the World Championship standings while Kallio sits back in 16th. World Superbike rider and former GP competitor Carlos Checa is subbing for Kallio in the final two races as the Finnish racer takes time off to heal a busted shoulder.